I hope your Sunday is filled with glorious miles or even some much needed rest. Sundays are always my rest days. I use to struggle so bad with the rest day, like ummmm what do I do with myself I NEED to exercise or do some type of physical activity. My amazing coach (thanks Katie, check out my amazing coach she’s doing some AWESOME STUFF) and some friends helped me with that, and let me tell you these rest days are now looked forward to and enjoyed! Life is too short and we work to hard to not take a break and recharge.

It’s that time of year where sickness is around us! Everyone has colds, flu, sinus issues, just NASTY crap going around. Well, if you follow me on Instagram you will see that I too got the sickness!!! In this picture here it was about 6:00pm and I was in bed, with my jacket on trying to locate my sunglasses (on my head).

This sickness was brutal and on top of it I ended up with a terrible ear infection. So needless to say my training had to take the backseat. I listened to my body and took some rest days. I only averaged about 20ish miles this week. I HAD to listen to my body!!

Well, now that the sickness is over, I felt like I could take on training full steam ahead….WRONG! DANG IT! My hamstring has been bugging me like crazy, soooooo hello foam roller!! I have been foam rolling like a crazy lady AND taking advantage of my local spin studio.

I have realized a lot during this training (so far) and you know that that is? LIFE HAPPENS!! It sure does! There are things we just can’t control. I have seen many people post about sickness, injury, or the fact that they have been stuck on the treadmill due to the winter and being freeze babies. Guess what??? It’s OKKKKKK! Keep doing what YOU can.

There are so may times we beat ourselves up over the things we can’t do. We need to (including myself) be better at celebrating what we CAN do. So your long run didn’t go as planned…you got the sickness…..you have some injury that is nagging you. YOU DO YOU, figure out a plan to move forward. You only can control SO MUCH. YOU DO YOU and guess what you’re exactly where you need to be.

Keep going strong friends! We have a little over 2 months yet, plenty of time to take on some awesome miles and plenty of time for LIFE to happen. Don’t stress…… ROLL with it (or foam roll, hahah see what I did there =) )

If you follow me on instagram (https://www.instagram.com/cupcakesforprs/) you might seem some crazy cakes, and ice cream creations. I have found some products that I just love that are high in protein AND satisfy my dang sweet tooth #winning #innerfatkidproblems . So now you might think well how in the world can you eat these things and still be “healthy” and promote a health/fitness lifestyle.

Well…… I gave up tracking weight watchers points about a year ago and it was the BEST decision of my life! (now don’t think I don’t like WW or am talking trash about it. WW helped get me started and helped me learn so very much about portion size and reading food labels. I just found with my exercise and fitness goals, it was time for ME to move on). I signed up with an amazing macro coach and haven’t looked back since. I use my fitness pal (user name jamariejo if you want to share food diaries) and have a set number of grams of fat, carbs, and protein to hit everyday. It’s almost like food Tetris =) I founds some items I like Lil Buff Protein Cakes (https://www.lilbuff.com I posed the link as they are only available to purchase online if you are not in the greater Cleveland area).

Arctic zero ice cream (now I ONLY like the maple vanilla and salted caramel flavors and you HAVE to microwave that pint for 30 seconds to get it creamy, IMO all the other flavors are like nasty ice milk).

I have been sticking to my running schedule but also working on weight lifting and spin class. I have noticed a HUGE difference in my body. I am getting some small little baby muscles and well that’s pretty cool. I am trying so very hard to work on ME and develop some type of balance in my life this year.

Last year I thought the number of miles I hit every week would make me stronger, leaner and better….to be honest that’s not always the case, and it’s really no way to live. Life works best with balance. I am working so hard on that right now. THAT DOESN’T COME EASY FOR ME. So I have done some thinking and processing and have decided a few things (I know you are on the edge of your seat)…

I am going to try hard to work on ME and BALANCE this year. Enjoy life more!

I LOVE running, seriously heck to the yes BUT I am not defined by the number of miles I run. I am going to fall in love with running MORE as I am not going to force myself to run some silly number of miles.

The Cleveland Half Marathon is going to be my BI#CH this year. Yep that’s right taking on the half, no full for this girl.

This half training cycle I am going to focus hard on speed, I have two goals I want to crush (I know you’re not surprised).

With all this balance thing I am going to work on having some non-tracked meals, enjoy life, you know live a little. If you know me you would know every week I sit down and fill myfitnesspal with all my food for the week. I pretty much stick to this plan (don’t get me wrong I have been known to be stuck in the peanut butter jar or have a few untracked items). This peanut butter right here is GOLD =)

However, it’s ok to have a meal that isn’t exactly in the PLAN. My husband reminded me of this when we were at the grocery store, as I was reading the nutrition labels of some food items he said you know it’s ok to have treat that isn’t in that tracker…..yep it is, I need to do this more!

I love LOVE my spin class, seriously if you have in the Cleveland area check out The Edge Indoor Studio (http://www.reachtheedge.com) PLUS the first class you take there is FREE, so why not give it a try? I go every friday morning, join me! I found in the past I didn’t go to spin class as yep I was so focused on those miles. It’s ok to cross train and have those other activities, it also helps your core/running form.

YOGA, I need to go back to yoga. I love yoga and find during that time my mind is quite, which is a rarity. So I will be heading back to yoga =)

Enjoy the moment. I am going to enjoy the moment I am in MORE, we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow, so why not enjoy the moment we are in??? SUNDAYS are now my REST day. No weights, no running, no spin, REST and try to embrace/enjoy it. This is easier said than done for me. I am usually a HUGE A-HOLE on Sundays BUT I am going to do better!!! Who would have thought I would need help resting?

I NEED to be nicer to me. I work so hard on my eating, fitness, I WORK HARD FOR WHAT I HAVE. I AM STRONG AND BEAUTIFUL, I need to embrace this and celebrate me. I am too terrible to myself, always focusing on my flaws…. I WORK TOO HARD FOR THAT CRAP…. I mean come on I’m pretty cute …. (be nice that took a lot for me to post as I am really not THAT confident).

BALANCE!!!

As I enter into the week, I have my training plan all mapped out as remember #3 =)

Monday: Speed Intervals

Tuesday: Lifting-back, chest, shoulders

Wednesday: Running, hoping for miles with Reese

Thursday: Running, miles with Reese or some tempo on the treadmill

Friday: Spin class

Saturday: Running, hoping for the great outdoors

Sunday: DAY OF REST!

Have a great week everyone. Also feel free to reach out with any questions about my lifestyle, training, or anything else I am an open book =) OH AND COMMENT PLEASE, I always try to be 100% honest, so appreciate anything you have to throw at me!